Zac knew all about the five stages of grief, but right now, he was wondering if there was such a thing as five stages of what the fuck just happened? Because in the span of about ten seconds, he went from surprise, to disbelief, to denial, to anger, until he finally accepted that she was gone.

He ran back into the restaurant, figuring that’s where she’d be but didn’t find her. As he carefully stepped over a pile of broken dishes and food some poor, clumsy waiter must have dropped, he stalked back to the table where the three remaining ladies were waiting.

“Where is she?” he asked Deedee.

“Who?”

“Astrid.” He gritted his teeth.

“Um, I don’t know. You were the one who went after her,” she pointed out.

“Well, she … uh …” He didn’t know how to explain it to Deedee. Astrid had just disappeared without any explanation or reason. One moment they were talking and then … poof. He’d looked around, checking to see if she was behind him, but there was only empty space.

Where the devil could she have gone to? And more importantly, why?

“Zac,” Isabelle whined. “Are we going to the club or not?

Irritation built up inside of him. Isabelle Anderson hadn’t stopped hounding him since last summer when he came to visit. She’d grown up to be a beautiful and confident young woman, but Zac saw her as nothing more than a little sister. An annoying little sister at that, as she tried to insert herself into every outing he had planned with Lucas, Adrianna, or any of their mutual friends.

It was pure coincidence that he’d ordered food at Petite Louve tonight and saw Deedee. He couldn’t believe Astrid was there too. He hadn’t had a chance to go back and observe more of the training since Monday because he’d been busy with work. At least that’s what he told himself. Though truth be told, it was also because he had been scared of his reaction to her.

What had been a training and observational exercise for him had turned into something very different. His body’s reaction to her had been alarming, and he panicked. But it had also kept him up nights, and he couldn’t stop thinking about her. The way she smelled and the feel of her body against him. He wanted to know if her skin felt as soft as it looked or how her naked breasts would feel in his hands. In that brief contact they had, he could have sworn he smelled her arousal.

It had been pure torture, the last few days, but now that she was so close, he didn’t want to be away from her. He just wanted one taste, just to see maybe, just maybe, if he did and he felt nothing—or worse, weird—then he could put this damn obsession behind him.

“Zac? Earth to Zac?” Isabelle waved a hand at him, her sparkly bangles jingling as they crashed together. “Well, are we going? My driver’s outside waiting.”

“What? Oh. No.” He shook his head. “I have an early day tomorrow, too.”

“But Zac—”

“Goodnight, ladies,” he said, ignoring Isabelle’s protests. He quickly left the restaurant and hailed a passing cab to take him to his hotel. He didn’t feel guilty at all about leaving suddenly. He wasn’t lying after all, as he planned to make a very early day of tomorrow.

The next day, Zac headed into the Fenrir Corp.’s headquarters as usual, and walked toward the private elevators. However, instead of going to the executive floor where he had a temporary office set up, he went straight to the fifteenth floor. At this hour, the trainees should still be doing their drills. He had sent a message to his father earlier, letting him know he was going to be stopping by.

“Zac,” Nick greeted as he entered the gym. His father could barely contain the excitement on his face. “I’m glad to see you here.”

“Good morning, Dad,” he greeted back. “Glad to be here.”

“I was hoping you’d come back for another round of observation, you did so well the last time.” Nick motioned to follow him.

“I did learn from the best.” As head of security for Fenrir, Nick had been well trained in combat and made sure his sons were too. “What’s the agenda for today?”

“As you know, mornings are for combat training mostly. Today, we’re doing some jujitsu.” He pointed to the recruits who were paired off for the sparring sessions.

“Are they—” Zac stopped suddenly when his gaze landed on two of the combatants. Astrid was rolling around the floor with another one of the recruits. One of the male recruits. It looked like she had the advantage, but her partner hooked a leg around her and then landed on top of her.

Zac’s inner wolf roared with fury, and his fingers curled into fists, digging into the palms of his hands. Jealousy stabbed at him like a knife to the gut, seeing another man with her. It was irrational and infuriating at the same time, especially since he couldn’t do anything about it. It was a training exercise for God’s sake, but he still wanted to rip the other man’s throat out.

“Ahem.” His father’s eyes narrowed at him. “Zac, are you all right?”

He tore his gaze away from Astrid and the other man. “Yes. I’m fine.” When he heard Astrid’s laugh, his head snapped back. The man was standing now, but he held out his hand to her. She took it and got to her feet, then smiled up at him and spoke in a voice so soft, he couldn’t quite hear it. The man’s eyes drifted down briefly to the sports bra she wore before looking back up at her pretty face.

Another ugly streak of jealousy speared through him. Did she enjoy having him on top of her? The contact of their bodies? The way the other man’s eyes devoured her curves?

“Zac.” His father’s voice sounded like a warning now. “There’s nothing much going on here that you haven’t seen before. You should go back to the executive floor. I’m sure Lucas needs you there.”

“I’m fine right here,” he declared. “I think I really need to know how this training works, especially if I’m to be in charge of the Alpha’s security.”

Throughout the rest of the morning, Zac remained in the training gym, pretending to listen to his father’s and Meredith’s instructions or comments, or feigning interest in learning about how the training worked. Like a predator stalking its prey, his gaze fixed on Astrid. If she knew or cared he was here, she didn’t show it. It was like she went out of her way to completely ignore him, which only fueled the maelstrom inside him.

Finally, Meredith and Nick declared that the morning session would be over and they could all take their lunch breaks. As the group broke up, Zac tuned his enhanced hearing to eavesdrop on Astrid’s conversation.

“You wanna head to the cafeteria, Astrid?” One of the female trainees asked her.

“Sure—oh poop. I left my Fenrir ID back in my room. You know those cafeteria ladies are ruthless when you don’t have your card. You guys go ahead and I’ll follow.” She headed toward the other side of the room, to the stairs that led up to the sixteenth floor barracks.

Before his father could invite him to lunch, he made an excuse about already having plans and quickly left the gym to make sure he was the first one to the executive elevators. Instead of heading back to the lobby, however, he pressed the button for the sixteenth floor.

Swiftly, he darted down the hallway, anticipation pumping in his veins. The door that led to the stairs opened and when he saw the flash of blonde hair, he didn’t waste any time. He grabbed Astrid and hauled her through the nearest door he could find—a broom closet, based on the small constrictive space and the various cleaning supplies on the shelves. Perfect.

“What in—Zac?” Whisky-colored eyes blinked up at him in surprise. When her gaze darted behind him, he knew he had to act fast.

“Oh, no,” he said. “You’re not getting away from me again.” He pulled on the string hanging from the lone lightbulb above them and plunged the room into darkness.

“What the hell? You can’t—mmm—”

Unsure how else to stop her from poofing away or protesting, Zac leaned down to press his mouth to hers.

Astrid’s lips were velvety soft and warm. She didn’t even protest, but eagerly returned his ardent kiss. Desire surged through him as he slanted his lips and she opened up to him. She tasted like the most delectable dessert in the world. Mine. She was all his and he would do his damned best to make her forget about any other man.

She moaned into his mouth and ran her hands up to his shoulders, slipping under his suit jacket. In turn, he moved his hands down her back, cupping her firm ass and pulling her hips to him so she could feel how hard his cock was. She gasped and pressed up against him, grinding herself to his erection, the scent of her arousal filling the tiny space.

He continued his assault on her lips, kissing her senseless, unable to stop. It was like he couldn’t get enough of her, feeding a desire inside him that couldn’t be quenched. He lifted her up, pinned her against the wall as he wrapped her legs around him, trying to find the perfect angle for her to—

“Oh!” She pulled her lips away from his and threw her head back.

He pressed his lips to her neck and continued to grind his cock against her as he sucked on her soft skin. That delicious scent of hers grew stronger, threatening to overcome him. She raked her fingers through his hair, tugging at the scalp.

“Zac, I—” He smothered her mouth to muffle her scream as her body shook with her orgasm. He kept a grip on his own pleasure, not wanting to come in his pants. No, he wanted to be inside her when that happened. She whimpered and another shudder went through her body before she relaxed against him. He could hear her heartbeat thundering in her chest. Or was that his?

He kissed her temple, feeling the overheated skin. “Astrid, I want—”

“Excuse me, what the hell are you doing in here?”

They both froze at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. The door to the closet had been opened, allowing light to stream in behind the middle-aged woman who stood there, hands on her hips. “You two! No fooling around in my closet. I’m going to report—”

“You will do no such thing,” Zac said, his voice taking on a dangerous edge. “Leave,” he growled, his wolf coming to the surface. “Now.”

The janitor’s face grew pale. “I … uh …” She shrugged. “I’ll be back in fifteen minutes. That better be enough time for you.”

When the door slammed shut, the room went dark, but not for long. Light filled the small space and when he turned around, Astrid quickly let go of the string hanging above her. With her hair all disheveled, her skin flushed and lips swollen, all Zac could think of was how sexy she looked and how he wanted to pick up where they’d left off.

“Zac!” she warned, raising her hands up as he took a step forward. “What are you doing?”

“Something you obviously want me to do,” he answered, licking his lips.

“I—no!” She stammered. “This can’t … we can’t do this.”

“Why not?”

“Because … you know this isn’t right.” She turned away from him.

“Did I imagine you kissing me back? Or you coming from—”

She shook her head and buried her face in her hands, murmuring something he couldn’t understand. “Stop, this is so wrong.”

He wanted her to stop saying that. Because none of this felt wrong. “Is it that guy?”

“What guy?”

“The guy that was on top of you.” It was hard to say it.

“Guy—oh my God. Joey? We were training, not doing the horizontal mambo,” she said. “Besides, what about Isabelle?”

“Who?”

“Isabelle Anderson.” The tips of her ears went red.

“Isabelle—Are you jealous of her?”

“No!” she retorted. “I’m not. But I mean, her—she—she’s the type of girl you should be with.”

“Says who?” he challenged. “She means nothing to me. Astrid, I want you. And I know you want me.”

“Zac, use your head.” She shuffled, moving around him. “Look, you’re probably used to girls falling straight into bed with you. I don’t know what kind of girl you think I am, but I don’t do that.”

Now he was confused. “Do what?”

“Just jump into bed with anyone.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“I just … I know how this works,” she said in a quiet voice. “I’m not the kind of … I mean, we’ll have a fun couple of days together, but then you’ll go back to London and I have to stay here. And then you’ll find someone appropriate for you and I’ll just end up …”

Zac stared at her, stunned. Appropriate? What the hell did that mean?

“Just … let’s not do this, okay? I already know the drill.” She reached for the door.

“Wait, Astrid—”

“Don’t, Zac. Just don’t.”

The sound of the door shutting sounded so final to his ears. Like this was it, the end, and that he would never see her again after this.

Perhaps he was going through the stages of what the fuck just happened again, but he was sure of one thing: he was not going to accept Astrid’s excuses.